My current work in progress:

For the Record

I made no lusskatter in celebration of St. Lucia Day today. Lucy was not forced to wear her Lucia crown.

Eva asked in the comments if I was doing any holiday knitting.

Nope. No holiday deadline insanity for me, thank-you-very-much. No cookies, no handmade doodads, etc. I still haven’t decided whether to put up a tree. Seems like a lot of work, you know?

Bohus-ing Along

We are now in the interminable stockinette portion of our program. Here’s the armhole shaping:

And my progress thus far today:

I have finished the armhole shaping and am now just chugging away on the back of the sweater. It’s made a bit more interesting by virtue of having some shaping in the body — decreases are done as one heads down towards the bottom ribbing.

You may notice that the body is knit in pieces, rather than in the round. Which might lead one to ask — wouldn’t it be easier to knit it in the round? Well, yeah it would. But I think the seams will add some stability to the garment. This knitted fabric is very lightweight and delicate and will benefit from the seams structure.

Apart from that, knitting the body in the round would be a whole lotta stitches per round. Just sayin’.

We have not put up a tree this year either. Both my sons are deployed, one in Iraq and one in Korea so off to Grandma’s house and tree and Christmas cookies we go. I will miss seeing some of the ornaments but hey, there’s always next year! Hopefully my boys will be home here and it really will be a meaningful time then.

I’m not doing a tree either! I think it’s going around this year. We’re heading to New England to celebrate with my husbands family, which we haven’t done in 10 years or better. Not a happy time though, his Mom has cancer and this just might be the last one with her.

Anyway, just wanted to say you never cease to amaze me with your knitting! You’ve done about 3 sweaters since I started my Rogue and I’m still tearing out and reknitting that sucker!

Merry Christmas to you and Lucy and King of all Remote Controls. I’ll be catching up on your blog when we get home from our 2 week trip. Might talk the hubby into stopping by Knit Happens! He said “find a map.” YIPPY.

Your Bohus looks fabulous! I am working on a pattern that is using moss stitch and it is instructing me to make increases at each end and incorporate them into established moss stitch. How do you do that without messing up the sequence that you started in the beginning? I will value your answer to this problem.

my dear my dear… I have been lurking on your blog for quite some time now (your Lucy reminds me of my kitty who is a ragdoll mix) and I am just AMAZED by how quickly you seem to get your knitting done! I wish my fingers worked as quickly as yours!

I finally went ahead and got a small (4 ft) tree and
put it up and did a few other decorations. It made me feel much better. My husband passed away last January and when winter set in it became very hard.
After watching you start the Bohus I went and got out my Oregon sweater and am enjoying the knitting very much. Thanks Wendy for the ongoing inspiration, it came at a much needed time.
Merry Christmas.

Bohus is looking fabulous. Love the halo of aqua blue in the yoke. Thanks for sending me the details for Ms Gustafsson. I’m anxiously awaiting my own bohus now! But it will have to wait until after xmas as I am trying to finish some gifts.

I love your Bohus.. am seriously considering ordering it. I’m currently plugging away at a Dale Olympic Albertville sweater.. (1992) so I’m familiar with colorwork from a chart – the Dale is at least done in the round – seaming is not a favorite thing for me.

I was just thinking about Xmas this AM. Last year I had just rescued a Border Collie mix who is manic (as most BC’s are) – and I feared he would destroy a tree.. this year – I have two BC rescues (its addictive) – but I have 2+ weeks off starting this Friday so I’m thinking about it again. How much damage can they do??? Heh, heh.

Yours are the only nails I’ve seen that length that actually look real! Are they? Inquiring minds yada yada… At first glance, I thought they might be a hindrance when knitting, but then I thought maybe they’d come in handy for picking out stitches (not that you ever have to do that) or separating a knot or such…

For Loren who asked about the moss stitch increases, all you need to do it either knit or purl into the front of the stitch and then knit or purl into the back of the same stitch to make your increase. You should determine what the stitch that will come before the first stitch on your needle needs to be before making your increase. If you need to have a purl, for instance, to keep the moss stitch pattern, then knit into the first stitch on your needle and immediately purl into the back of that same stitch before taking it off the needle. This way you will keep the moss stitch pattern repeating properly. I hope this helps.

We put up our tree on Monday night and I finished decorating it yesterday. The key is the big closet downstairs! 😉 Lights stay on it and delicate ornaments come off. I love the lights and it’s low stress.

Wendy, your sweater is gorgeous! I’m reluctant to make a sweater for anything next to my skin. I had an angora and lambswool sweater once that ended up with unsightly discoloration under the arms. I asked one lady how she protected her sweater from stains, and she said to drink more water! Somehow I doubt that diluting the perspiration would solve my problem. If you know of anything, do share! Thanks for a wonderful, wonderful blog. I read every morning.

About stains on close-fitting sweaters: you can buy fabric sweater-underarm protectors with or without velcro. They come in differet colors and can be removed when the sweater is to be washed. They really save alot of worry about laundering and staining. You can also make your own from velcro and fleece bits, or just soft fabric.

Bohus is lovely and you’re just flying along. No tree? You really have to put up a tree, even if it’s just a baby tree. Lucy will be sad if there’s no tree for Santa to put her gifts under. As for the Christmas knitting – smart lady.

We are getting a tree this year. What I do in tree-less years is to buy some evergreen branches, cover the mantel with them, and nestle in some ornaments. You get to look festive and have the wonderful smell, but without a lot of the hassle.

I do have to completely cover the mantle, though, so that the cat can’t find a spot to jump up onto.

Alas Wendy-I have been trying to go treeless-but I am very much out voted by my two boys and a boy of a husband. And I do knit for Christmas-though mostly little things. This year it is fingerless gloves-I can knock out 1 glove a day. But I will not give up Christmas cookies. Your latest sweater is lovely!
Kathy

I really wasn’t in the mood for a tree, or anything festive, this year, but the Mr. put it up all on his own. All I had to do was sit back and keep Kally from chewing on the branches. If he takes it down all by himself, then he will forever be on tree duty!
The sweater looks lovely!

Hi Wendy and all, there is a knitting contest at http://www.shop.ddjd.cz/skf.htm , please, help us vote! The green voting is for the best, the red one for the least attractive item. The voting ends in about 2 hours. I’d like as many knitters as possible to go vote sice I think there is one participant cheating. Thank you very much for your help!

Wendy, the pictures of your Bohus are really, really tempting me to knit one, or at least to have a kit of my own. I think the way it’s constructed is pretty cool; the colorwork in the round is easier, and the stockinette flat, so you don’t have to knit so many stitches in a round, oh, and the seam-stability, to boot.

Dear Wendy the kitty beds are great!
I have 2 Siamese cats
I dont like saying this but its true I KNOW EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT CATS (AND YES MY VET HAS CALLED ME FOR INFORMATION)
YOUR SIAMESE CAT IS TO THIN
FEED YOUR CAT MORE FOOD AND ALWAYS GIVE HIM / hER FRESH WATER EVERYDAY
I KNOW YOU HAVENT ASKED , BUT IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN HELP YOU WITH CONCERNING YOUR CATS HEALTH
PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL
SINCERELY DIANA PACKWOOD

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